


Chess’s Book of Pictures

by VictrolaDoll



Category: Alice in Wonderland (2010), Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Related Fandoms, Mad T Party Band
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-06-08
Updated: 2013-06-08
Packaged: 2018-04-03 11:25:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4099261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VictrolaDoll/pseuds/VictrolaDoll
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's time to move and Chessur most unwisely trusts clumsy Mallyumkin to carry his life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Chess’s Book of Pictures

**Author's Note:**

> This has been sitting in my Fanfiction folder for ages, so I decided to post it as a two parter, because at least this part half is done so why not. Let me know what you think, yeah?  
> (backdated)

“Careful with those!” The larger man snapped over his shoulder.

Mallymkun Loir, sometimes dormouse of Underland, and full-time rocker extraordinaire, pulled a face at his friend from behind the over-full box of binders and manuscripts in his arms, “They’re just books, Chess. It’s not like they’ll break.”

“Mal, if you drop those I swear on all the cheese in your pantry,  _you_  will be the one breaking!”

“Yeah, yeah.”

The cat-man was so particular about his things, and Mally was starting to regret helping this particular friend move into their new lodgings. The dormouse had already shoved all of his own belongings into shopping bags and dropped them unceremoniously over the threshold of his new room. This measure had provided him with absolutely no excuse to not help the rest of the Mad T-party Band members in moving their own accoutrements. Thackery had employed the same moving method as Mally, but instead of simply dumping everything, he was now fastidiously arranging his territory and wanted to be left alone. Alice had managed to wrangle a merry group of off duty employees to help herself and the others move, which meant that she had needed no help, and neither did Tarrant. For various reasons, Absolem, Nivens, and Chess were still moving. Absolem was the first to suggest that the dormouse move his lazy are and help, but had refused to allow Mally to touch any of his possessions, citing multiple instances of the mouse’s clumsiness. Nivens had been next to require assistance, but had been overruled by a couple of Alice’s helping hand, who decided that they should be the ones moving the rabbit’s delicate electronics, not some technologically-impaired guitarist such as Mally. Finally, Chess had appeared and shoved a box at Mally, grabbing his shoulder and evaporating them both into the living room of their new domicile in the Disney Entertainment Dormitories. As Mally carefully maneuvered down the hall behind the other man, he wondered why they had not simply appeared inside of the appointed bedroom. He shook his head a the thought, and stopped trying to analyze the “old man.”

“WOAH!” Unable to see where he was going, Mally had bumped into the doorframe as he attempted to enter the cat’s room.

Chess was already on the far side of the room and his head snapped around. He watched as the topmost binder of Mally’s stack wobbled, then, in seeming slow motion, fell. Abandoning his own crate of reading material, Chess started to evaporate and instinctually dove forwards in an attempt to save the hide bound ledger.

He was too late.

It hit the floor and snapped open, pictures and sturdy sheets of backing paper exploding out from the now unfastened binding.

“NO!” The cat howled, appearing at the periphery of the cloud of papers and images as they drifted to the floor.

Mally carefully set down the rest of the box, not wanting to bring it forwards and step on any pictures by accident, “I’m sorry Chess, I couldn’t see where I was going! Chess?”

“No. No, no, no… Shit, no.” Mally’s friend was scrabbling through the various photographs and sketches like a mad thing. Picking up first one, then another and staring hard at the faces smiling back at him as if he had lost something that only they could provide.

“Chess, calm down. I’ll help you put them back.” Mally tried to sound soothing as he made his way towards the other man, picking up images as he went. The other’s obsessive activity was kind of freaking him out.

“You can’t!” yelled the large feline, springing to his feet, “You can’t! I can’t! NOBODY CAN! They’re gone! GONE! And it’s all your fault Mallymkun!”

“Chess-”

“GET OUT! Leave me alone! If you ever come near this room again, I swear I will eat you! I will-”

“ _WHAT_  is going on here?” A new voice cut through Chess’s wild threats, emanating from behind Mally.

“Absolem!” Chess’s manner deflated, “He dropped them! They’re all a muddle and,” to Mally’s horror, tears started to trickle down Chess’s cheeks as he continued, “I just,” He snuffled, “I can’t put them back…” He trailed off wiping at his nose with the cuff of his sleeve.

Absolem sighed, “You’ve really done it this time, mouse.” he muttered to Mally, “pick up the rest of the pictures. Gently.” he added sternly. “Chesshur, don’t worry, old friend. I’ll help you put them all back.” The lanky man stepped nimbly around the clutter to stand behind Chess. He grasped the feline by the shoulders, and steered him further into the room and onto a deep blue couch which was situated against the south eastern wall, under a large window. He then went back to the spray of photos near the door and gently collected the binder, which lay splayed at the edge of the chaos. After gathering up the pages that had sprung out of it as well, Absolem returned and presented them to his friend on the couch.

Chess gingerly, almost fearfully, reached out to except the proffered album. He lay it open on his lap and dazedly stared at the disordered contents. While he did so, Absolem righted the coffee table that had been turned on end against the far end of the couch, and pulled it in before them.

“Now,” Said the caterpillar, setting aside his amber tinted spectacles and taking the seat next to Chess, “You remember what to do first, yes?”

The cat nodded. Leafing through the disordered pages, he began ordering them by the numbers marked at the center bottom of each page.

Mally shuffled over, head bent to his chest in contrition.

“Sit.” The caterpillar ordered.

Mally sat. He looked across the table at Absolem, and started to open his mouth to speak. Then he glanced sidelong at Chess as he hissed softly at the pages he was ordering. Mally promptly shut his pie hole and silently placed the pictures on the table. They wobbled a bit, not all being of the same size, and the stack slipped sideways, spreading out on the table’s clear plastic surface.

“Shit, sorry. I-” The mouse went to re-order the images, but Absolem waved him off, and instead delicately drew image after image from the pile, laying them out so that he could try and see their faces properly. He had to leave some in a pile owing to the table not being big enough, and Chess taking up some of it’s space with the binder. At last he nodded in satisfaction and turned to the cat who was just finishing his task.

“Juellip.” Absolem intoned. Picking up a worn black and white photograph.

Chess started flipping through the pages searching for the name. When he had found it, he turned back to Absolem who trailed one of his long thin fingers across the back of the photo leaving a sticky residue. Chess then took the photo and carefully tucked the corners into the notches made in the album paper before placing it back in the stack.

Mally watched the process for a bit. He noticed that the pages all had places for at least two photographs. Next to each space was a first and last name as well as Underlandian dates of birth and death, sometimes there was also “Mother of:” or “Father of:” and a list of more names. He turned to the images displayed before him. Even looking at them upside-down, he noticed things about them. They were all portraits. Many of the likenesses had similar features. Several pairs of turquoise cat eyes looked back up at him. Many mouths with ridiculously sharp teeth grinned at him in just such a way. Many of the humanoids had blue tipped hair while an equal amount of the Underlandian creatures had brindled fur.

“Are these-?” He began, but the caterpillar immediately interrupted him.

“Yes, stupid mouse, they are his mates and children.”

“So many…” Mally mused. “Why can’t he put them back on his own?”

“Mallymkun, if you were older than all the Tulgey Wood, if you had lived for centuries beyond end, if you were a creature that simply did not die, but did your very best to make friends and live in the moment as it is instead of being simply an observer and letting everything that is and was and will be pass you by, how much would you be able to remember?”

“I… I don’t know.”

Absolem handed Chess another image, and continued addressing the mouse, “Would you remember your parents? Your friends? Your lovers? Would you remember your own name?”

“Well I- Wait. Chess knows his name! We all know Chess’s name.”

Absolem gave him a blank stare and selected a charcoal drawing of what looked like a marmot with three sets of feathered ears. “Merritraya.” He said to the cat.

“It’s Chess.” Mally continued.

Another blank stare as Chess flipped through the pages again.

“Short for Cheshire, ‘cause saying Chesh, doesn’t role off the tongue as well.” Mally babbled.

Absolem was clearly not going to say anything so Mally went on.

“I mean I suppose it’s- it’s short for The Cheshire, isn’t it…? The Cheshire Cat…? Abs?”

Absolem finally nodded in assent, “Cheshire is derived from Chessur, a very old Underlandian word that means 'to disappear’.” He extricated another image and held it up for The Chessur, “Te'ahdre.”

Mally looked to Abs, then Chess, then back again, “So you’re telling me, that we’ve all been calling him 'The Disappearing Cat’ this entire time?”

“Yes.”

The dormouse thought on this for a while, mutely watching Abs help Chess, no,  _The Chessur Cat_ put seven more of the portraits back in their rightful places.

“Absolem.” he said at last.

“Yes Mallymkun?”

“How do YOU remember all of their names?”

“It is not a matter of remembering, but of knowing.”

Mally blinked stupidly up at the caterpillar, “Huh?”

“I am Absolem. Absolute. I am in charge of knowing all things. It takes a moment or two sometimes, but I look at a thing and eventually I know it.”

“So… Don’t you  _know_  Ches- Chessur Cat’s name?”

The caterpillar shook his head mournfully, flicking a finger along the back of a Polaroid before handing it over to The Cat. “Chessur gave up his name a long time ago. He forgot it and did not want it back-”

“Nobody called me by it.” Chessur Cat interjected, “Fighting to keep track of a name that nobody else knows, it’s-” He paused, screwing up his face to find the right words, “Every time somebody would call me something, my mind added 'Formerly Known As insert-name-here’ although most of the time I hadn’t a clue as to what went there anyway.” He scanned the images remaining on the table, “She’ll understand eventually,” he nodded toward the likenesses, reaching out for one in particular.

“Oh no you don’t.” Absolem snatched the image first, “This one  _you_  must tell  _me_  before you put it away.”

Mally craned see the photograph, but only managed to get a vague idea of lots of wild white hair and blue sky.

Chessur Cat scowled at his bug companion, “I’m on her page anyway, just let me put it in.”

Sitting up on his heals, Mally looked at the page Chessur had opened to, focusing on the space for the offspring’s portrait. He blinked. There was no name, and even though the date of birth was some three hundred years ago, there was no date of demise listed. Frowning, his eyes wandered up the page. The space for the mother’s portrait was empty as well so he read the label instead.

“WHAT!?” He screeched. His brain insisted that he could not possibly have read that correctly. Not bothering to apologize for interrupting The Chessur and Absolem’s argument, he reached forward and snatched up the page, staring in bewilderment.

**Floraisa**

**Snud Clan, _House of Loir_**


End file.
